


This wasn’t supposed to happen

by alittlebugsheadx



Category: Riverdale - Fandom, bughead - Fandom
Genre: Betty sleeps around, F/M, Hate to Love, Jealous Jughead, Monogamous Jughead, Slutty Betty, bughead fluff to come, bughead hate to love, bughead love, imperfect Betty, reluctant desire, serpent Jughead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:49:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebugsheadx/pseuds/alittlebugsheadx
Summary: Betty Cooper has a plan: survive high school; graduate; then get the hell out of Riverdale. Enjoy yourself, sure, but nothing more. No feelings, no shit to deal with. It’s. As. Easy. As. That.But when a certain Serpent disrupts her plan, how will she adapt? It’s different, it’s scary, it’s new. It’s unmarked territory. But definitely not territory she doesn’t want to ‘mark’.OR:Betty’s a loose cheerleader but the one conquest she’s determined to make isn’t going to be such a pushover and make it easy. Definitely not easy.





	1. Chapter 1

It was in Pop’s when he first caught her eye. His entrance made the bell ring, which no one would actually notice other than Betty. Why she noticed? She didn’t know. She just knew, right then and there, that that would be a beautiful conquest.

She finished her milkshake, deep in thought, whilst Reggie’s hand slid higher up her thigh.

The dark-haired beauty heading towards an empty booth locked eyes with her.

Cold. Hard. Frozen.

Blue.

Betty reminded herself to close her slightly open mouth and averted her gaze. She felt his still on her until he reached the far booth in the corner. Archie and Valerie were snickering away, “Someone caught your eye, Betts?”

She rolled her eyes, feeling Reggie’s masculinity becoming threatened, she put her hand on his and moved it up higher. “You’re ridiculous, you are. I’m not into Southside trash.”

That didn’t mean to say that Betty hadn’t done ‘Southside trash’. Of course, she had made her way round. But there was one person she hadn’t had the privelege of doing.

The couple across from her started devouring one another whilst Betty pressed a wet kiss to Reggie’s cheek, whispering something in his ear. He eagerly nodded before following Betty out of the booth.

“We’re gonna head off now,” he said, receiving a wink from Archie and a knowing smirk from Valerie.

“Be safe.”

Reggie paid at the bar, with Betty wrapped around his arm. She stole one more glance at the quiet boy sitting booths away, only to find his already on her.

She bit her lip before walking off with Reggie, a little bounce in her walk, effortlessly making her skirt reveal her long, olive legs: man’s weakness (well, one of them).

But whilst she and Reggie did it in the back of his car there was only one thing on her mind. Well, one person.

And it wasn’t Reggie.


	2. Chapter 2

Betty was confused.

Why was it, for the past week, all she had been thinking about was that boy? What he was typing away at on his laptop? What he was thinking when he looked at her? Something in her gut was telling her that he didn’t see her the same way everybody else did. And that didn’t terrify her; it excited her.

Maybe he did see the preppy, slutty blonde who with her stone cold exterior and perfect A grades. But maybe, just maybe, there was the possibility of more? Betty didn’t know what this ‘more’ would entail, but she couldn’t help but feel intrigued to finding out.

She had never been the one to think about a boy longer than a few hours. She thought that it was a blessing, hence the way this boy had the power to stay in her thoughts without even having spoken a word to her, was slightly unnerving.

Did she want to sleep with him? Sure. Honestly, that’s all she ever thought she would want from a guy in Riverdale.

Her soulmate existed. But definitely not in Riverdale.

She never liked Riverdale. Sure some people were nice; there were cute places like Pop’s diner and the drive-in; the education wasn’t half bad; she enjoyed extracurriculars. It wasn’t a  _bad_  life.

But it wasn’t the life for her. Not for her future anyway.

You see, Betty’s big plan was to get through high school; sleep around and not bother trying to ‘find love’ that wouldn’t last whilst she was a young teen; graduate and then get the hell out of here.

She wasn’t supposed to feel anything towards anyone whilst she was here. _That was the plan_.

But now, all of a sudden, she woke up with a purpose. She had a motive; a project. Something to work on, work towards: a goal.

So after cheerleading practice, she’d go with the jocks to Pop’s, hoping to just see him. She didn’t do much else other than  _see_  him from a few booths away. She knew if she got up and talked to him she wouldn’t hear the end of it. And she had no doubt her friends would talk to him too; try and pick a fight. He didn’t want to disrupt her life like that so it was only the polite thing not to do the same to him.

This time was different, though. Something about it.

Betty was sitting on Archie’s lap, next to Reggie. Archie’s arousal clearly pressed up against her ass cheek, Reggie’s hand rubbing her thigh slightly.

Two other jocks sat across from her, eating like they were starved.

And then she saw him,  _with_   _Sweet Pea._

_Shit._

Betty had already hit that.

The latter caught the first’s gaze towards Betty, and turned around to see her. By his facial expression, it was clear he remembered her. She looked away instantly.  _Yep, now it’s impossible. Sweet Pea would probably tell him all about me. It was over for me. Any chance._

Archie’s hand slipped under her shirt. Subtlety wasn’t a strong point for either of these testosterone-powered boys.

It must have been very evident to everyone that they were clearly feeling her up.  _And you let them._

Archie grazed his lips against her ear, whispering something that she agreed to.

Reggie slid out of the booth, offering her a hand.

The eager redhead went and paid the bill as Reggie lifted her over his shoulder, slapping her ass. Letting out a laugh as he carried her out of the diner, she caught  _his_  gaze again.

_Why do I wonder what stranger in the booth thought of me?_

***

Jughead  _hated_  her. He truly despised her. His blood literally boiled whenever he saw her. This made it even more frustrating when she would catch his gaze and make his heart melt into mush whilst she saw his soul. He hated the way he felt so exposed just from her look; the way she seemed to sleep around; the way she looked so adorably cute in her uniform; but also stunning in whatever she wore.

He hated  _her_.

She was trouble, too. Girls like her, girls who knew they were trouble, were the worst of all. ‘Most dangerous, stay away’ the label practically hanged over her head. And he detested that the thought of her gorgeous, golden hair being sprawled across his pillow came into mind.

Sweet Pea had caught him looking that one time.

He told him that he didn’t regret it; it was fucking amazing. It was just shitty that she was such a shitty person.

Jughead did his best to ignore the images of Betty and Sweet Pea going at it that came to mind as the boy in front of him bragged.

So her coming into Pop’s with her friends, who seemed to consist majorily of douchey guys, was a regular thing. And Jughead would sit in his booth, typing away, or pretending to type, after devouring his food. She would catch him looking at her, with a twinkle in her eye, and end up leaving the diner with a guy or two, whoever she fancied really. It was consistent; it was a routine.

But then she broke it: when she waltzed into the White Whyrm with Fangs.


	3. Chapter 3

Jughead swallowed as the girl, dressed in a short black leather skirt, and lacy top tucked in, walked towards him on those incredibly uncomfortable-looking shoes, arm linked with Fangs. She smirked, annoyingly aware of her effect on him. He averted his gaze to Fangs, raising an eyebrow.

“So, guys, this is Betty. She’s my new favourite person. We’re besties now, too.” He tilted his head to the side, as she gave a light laugh which also happened to be the sound angels make when you arrive at heaven.

Sweet Pea nodded at her, to which she returned with the same unreadable expression on her face. She shifted her attention to Toni, who had a playful smile on her lips, and then greeted Jughead with that twinkle in her eyes and a smug smile.

He hated that twinkle.

Fangs was yapping on about something, whilst Jughead tried his best to avoid her gaze.

“I think I have an idea,” Toni interjected, “You know, to get to know Betty a little better.”

Jughead knew exactly what she meant. Toni was thirsty and they all knew it.

Betty agreed to join them in the booth, sliding in between Sweet Pea and Toni, opposite Fangs and Jughead.

“Okay, so we have this game,” the pink haired girl began, “It’s like our version of truth or dare. Basically, you close your eyes, choose a shot glass to take, and under that glass is a piece of paper saying truth or dare. If you refuse to answer cause you’re like a pussy, then you have to make out with someone. But it can’t be the same person every time. And the dares, well same goes for that too.”

She whispered in Betty’s ear, “But maybe you do want pussy, and that’s okay too.”

Jughead rolled his eyes from across the table: he hated it when Toni made moves on girls that were...well, he couldn’t quite classify Betty. He just knew he didn’t like people, let alone Toni hitting on her. Maybe that was because he hated Betty? _Yeah, that’s probably it._

Betty gave her new friend yet another hard-to-read smile, before volunteering herself to go first.

She closed her eyes and reached for the glass, downing it quickly.

“Truth!”

“Do you regret screwing Sweet Pea?” Fangs asked, earning a punch in the arm from his friend, who secretly was desperate to find out.

Betty smirked at him, biting her lip, “Not at all.”

That earned some cheers from the table, before it was Toni’s turn.

Betty couldn’t help but think that Jughead seemed to be quite the downer. Maybe it was just because she was here; she didn’t know. Maybe he felt like she was intruding?

“Dare!” Fangs called.

“I dare you to go makeout with Sticky Sam.”

Toni made a disgusted face.

“Sticky Sam is that guy over there; he’s so gross. He looks gross, smells gross, and somehow always manages to get some gross substance on everything he touches,” she explained to Betty, who mirrored Toni’s expression.

“So no thanks. Guess, I’ll just have to makeout with Cooper, here,” she smirked before hastily pressing her lips on hers’.

Betty surprised by her eagerness, quickly went with it, enjoying the taste of bubblegum that seemed to radiate off of Toni. She licked her bottom lip, and Betty allowed entrance.

Sweet Pea and Fangs whistled but the girls pulled away after Jughead tried clearing his throat several times.

“Damn, girl, you kissed a girl before?” Toni looked at her wide-eyed, clearly impressed.

Betty chuckled and said in a low voice, “Several.”

Yes, she had gotten around with a few girls too, the cheerleading squad was ‘close’ after all. But Betty didn’t label herself as anything. She didn’t see herself being with a girl in the future, although that would have been ideal, guys her age being douches and all, but she wasn’t closed to having a fun time with a girl friend once in a while.

Fangs went next, and his dare was to go ask the cute bartender on a date. He had been eyeing him up for a while so this push was helpful if anything. He came back to the booth with a number on a napkin and a date agreed.

Jughead’s dare was to eat 60 mozzarella sticks in 3 minutes, which he did. Sweet Pea tried to give himself a dare to make out with Betty, which didn’t actually work. But when he refused his actual dare, he chose to makeout with her anyway. She didn’t mind, kissing Sweet Pea was fun, and she could swear she saw Jughead’s nostrils flaring from across the booth, which guilty made her stomach fill with butterflies.

Betty’s dare was to down a certain number of shots in limited time, whilst sitting on Sweet Pea’s lap, with him holding one of her hands to slow her down.

They played many more rounds after that before Fangs went off to spend time with the bartender; Toni set her eyes on and scored with a potential new fling. Sweet Pea, dozing off, was left with a very drunk Betty, and a boy who felt very uncomfortable, sitting across from them in the booth.

She looked at him, half-lidded, “So what’s your deal, Jug-head?”

He grimaced at her saying his name like that, “What do you mean?”

“You know, why are you like this?”

He tried not to take offence to that.

“No, I just mean,” she reached out to brush that curl out of his face, but missed by a mile, poking his eye instead, “Why are you so... I don’t know. Do you hate me?”

He was taken aback by her sudden question, “What?”

Yes.

“I knew it.”

“What? No, I don’t-“

“Of course you do! I slept with your boyfriend-“

Jughead choked, “Wait, what? I’m not gay? What-“

She burst out into a fit of giggles, “It’s okay. You can be. That’s cool. That’s dope. You don’t need to hide it.”

Jughead raised both his eyebrows even further, “Yeah, I know it’s ‘dope’ but I’m not actually gay.”

She continued laughing, not really aware of their conversation.

She scooted herself out of the booth and stumbled to her feet.

Jughead instinctively jumped out, placing a hand on her back to steady her.

She ignored the warm tingle she felt at the contact.

“Where are you going?”

She pursed her lips together, feigning a ‘deep-in-thought’ look, “Um, home.”

“How? He furrowed his eyebrows together.

She looked at him with bright eyes, “So, I have this really cool, new, super cool, did I already say that? I’m not sure. It’s really cool. It’s a spaceship. Do you want to see it?”

He laughed dryly before wrapping his arm around her waist, and pulling one of her arms over his shoulder, “Come on, spacegirl, let’s get you home.”

“But you don’t know how to drive it. Only I can. You probably don’t even have a license. I can get you a fake one though...” she rambled on for what felt like forever, but Jughead enjoyed her sweet voice blessing his ears, and her warm body in his arms. It was difficult walking to his truck though, with her heels and all so he ended up scooping her up in his arms and carrying her bridal style. She giggled at first, wrapping her arms around him, before falling asleep with her head buried into his neck.

~~_He could get used to this._ ~~

***

Betty woke up sitting upright, in an unfamiliar seat. She looked to her left, eyes widening at the boy before her. She opened her mouth but he interrupted.

“Where do you live? I’ve just been driving in a few circles now, because I obviously don’t know where to drop you home.”

She bit back a smile at his consideration for her. He didn’t need to do this for her. She gave him her address before biting her tongue on whether to ask him or not.

“Just spit it out.”

“What?” She raised her eyebrows.

“You’re battling yourself on whether or not to ask, I can tell. Just ask me.”

_‘He could tell’._

“I just...You’re not-you’re not going to hurt me, right?”

She almost felt stupid for asking.

He looked at her, eyes full of shock, mouth a little open, “What? No. Of course not. What? Why would you...? Have you...? Wait, what?”

She swallowed, “Thank you.”

He looked at her again, so many questions unanswered. “I don’t mean to pry, but why did you think I would?”

She shrugged, “I didn’t. But I don’t know why else, you are being so out of the way nice to me.”

_Nice. She thinks you are nice. Next thing she’s going to think you’re a bundle of flowers and joy._

He was flabbergasted. Had no guy done anything for her without sexual intentions being behind it?

“Okay, well, I’m definitely not going to hurt you. I’m just being decent, making sure you get home okay, because well, Fangs would bite my head out if he knew I left you alone at the Whyrm.”

He knew that wasn’t true.

He suppressed the small smile that tried to creep up onto his face as he kept thinking she thought he was nice.

And she bit back her smile at the thought that he was actually nice.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Betty was wriggling her way into his life and he couldn’t stop her.

Over the next few weeks, Betty had set up Toni with the head cheerleader, who finally got off her high horse and accepted this girl who wanted to love her. Toni was happier than she ever had been, all thanks to Betty. Sweet Pea and Betty were now friends too: they shared some classes together; they would chill and meet up on the weekends; he and Fangs would take her out often. When Fangs’ relationship with the bartender started developing, Sweet Pea and Betty were left to themselves. They got to know one another more, and learn how different yet similar they were. Sweet Pea was a really bright guy, but he was incredibly loyal and felt passionate about the social injustices Betty also felt strongly about. Jughead tried to avoid these two as much as possible, believing they were together. They seemed it. But Betty wasn’t much into labels. She wasn’t sleeping with Sweet Pea: she had slept with him since she became friends with them all, but she wasn’t ‘with’ Sweet Pea.

Betty earned their respect too. She tutored the younger Southside kids after school on Monday. She stood up for the Serpents etc. through her writing in the Blue and Gold. She enjoyed learning from Fangs how to cook all sorts of dishes. Sweet Pea taught her some self-defence moves that she was sure would come in handy. And she in turn showed Toni and Sweet Pea some easy fixes in the garage. She would bring Sweet Pea or Fangs coffee in the morning and some bagels in exchange for a ride to school.

She didn’t look at them like they were different.

It was almost as though she was one of them.

Jughead was beyond suspicious. All of a sudden, a preppy, blonde Northsider starts spending time with Southside Serpents? _What did she want? Was she in trouble or something?_

The strangest thing of all was how would the jocks react to it? Betty had spent so much time with them that they ought to feel left out or abandoned.

And he was yet to find out.

***

SLAM!

Fangs was shoved into a locker. The overtowering redhead and Reggie stood above him.

Betty couldn’t hear what they were saying but rushed over to her friend’s side, “Hey! What are you doing? Get off him!” She did her best to shove the boys back, and somehow she still had that power over them. They stepped back spitting in his face before turning to see her.

“Well, if it isn’t the serpent slut. How is slumming it with Southside trash going?”

Betty rolled her eyes, stepping forward to focus on Archie, knowing how jealous Reggie would get with Betty so close to Archie.

“Better than Northside crap. Do you miss me, Arch?” She smirked and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him further away from the others.

He let a smile slip, wrapping his hands around her waist, “No…”

Her eyes flickered to his lips as her hand travelled down his torso, “Really? Because you seem…somewhat… _frustrated_?” She tilted her head to the side innocently.

He took in a sharp breath before whispering in her ear, “You free today?”

She brushed her lips against his cheek, “Maybe,” before pushing herself out of his embrace and linking arms with Fangs as they walked off. She looked back to see Reggie and Archie squarelling where she left them.

A few yards away stood an eye rolling Jughead.

***

Betty was finishing up in the Blue and Gold when Jughead appeared at the doorway. She turned to see him, eyebrows raised, “Hey, I’m just finishing up here.”

He closed the door behind him, “Okay, well, I just wanted to say whilst that was cool of you for sticking up for Fangs…” He looked like he was battling himself on whether or not to say it.

“Just spit it out. I can handle it.”

_How did she know it was criticism?_

“I just…I don’t think sweet talk will always work. You know that right? You can’t have both.”

She furrowed her brows together, confused.

_Uh oh._

“You can’t be friends with…with people like Fangs and also Archie and Reggie. It’s not possible.”

She said sarcastically, “Okay, thanks for the tip. Why do you care who I’m friends with?”

_This can’t end well._

He ran his hand through his hair, clearly getting frustrated, “Well, I don’t want my friends to get hurt. That’s all. And I think…”

“You think I’m going to hurt them. Okay, got it.” She zipped up her bag.

_Stop talking._

“Well, yeah, you’re obviously going to move on from…whatever this is…and go back to your crowd-“

“My crowd?” She looked very offended.

_Abort abort._

“Yeah, you know, your cheerleaders and jocks.”

She laughed dryly before shoving past him towards the door, “Do tell, why is that so definite for you? Why is it ‘obvious’ that I’m just going to ‘move on’?”

She held the door open, waiting for him to leave.

He made no intention to leave, but just turned around to face her. “Because you’re going to have to pick. And you’re going to pick them.”

She shook her head in disbelief, laughing, “You are unbelievable.”

Narrowing his eyes, “What? How am I unbelievable?”

Her own eyes had darkened as she looked at him, “Because you come in here, tainting a decent action of mine with your negativity, for starters. You accuse me of being just ‘a cheerleader’-I hear it in your tone towards me-and criticise me on your assumption that I’ll choose jocks over Serpents. So whilst you tell me off for stereotyping or some shit, you are judging me the same way. You’re hypocritical like that. I don’t know what your deal is, _Jug-head_ , but I know that it’s never fair to judge someone like you have me. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you hate me, but I don’t need your shit.” She tossed the keys to him, which he quickly caught, “Lock up when your done.”

She walked down the hall leaving an open-mouth Jughead. He quickly came to his senses and locked the door before rushing down the corridor, “Betty wait!”

She whipped around to see him, frantic as ever, and had to suppress her smile at his disheveled state. She could practically see his brain try and work and when he looked up at her he blushed before asking, “I’m sorry. You’re right, I did…I did judge you, I guess. Can I make it up to you?”

She bit her lip to stop the huge grin on her face as his cheeks reddened.

“What do you have in mind?”

“How’s Pop’s?”

_Perfect._

_As long as she gets to sit in that booth with him._


	5. Chapter 5

Betty enjoyed the ride over here, with her arms wrapped around Jughead’s torso, wind in her hair, and warm leather wrapped around her shoulders. She made no effort to give the jacket back to him, which only made him smile as she didn’t seem embarrassed to be seen wearing it.

The bell rang when they walked into the diner and all eyes were on them. There were the Jocks on the left, eyes wide and blood raging as their masculinity was suddenly threatened by ‘Southside Trash’. There were the other cheerleaders on the right, in the middle of the diner, eyes narrowed as they sat confused and began to gossip. At the back sat the ‘norms’ who were just regular people, not sport-crazy, but neither nerds. Betty was friends with most of them.

Jughead looked at Betty who appeared totally unbothered and started walking to his booth. He just smiled behind her, letting her lead him with confidence. She slid into the booth, back to everyone else, focusing all her attention on him as he sat across from her. He could see Archie fuming at the other end of the diner, and tried not to smirk.

Pop Tate greeted them himself, happily, bringing them food. They enjoyed themselves, getting to know one another, so much so that Betty let Jughead finish her milkshake and her fries. Their meet was going very smoothly until a certain redhead and a cheerleader interuppted them. The jock sat next to Betty and the cheerleader hesitantly sat on his side of the booth but did her best to distance herself from Jughead, like he was some sort of contagious disease.

Betty sighed, “What do you want, Arch?”

“You know what I want, Betty,” he whispered into her ear to which she rolled her eyes again, clearly annoyed.

Jughead felt incredibly uncomfortable, his nostrils involuntarily flaring as the boy in front of him was not so subtely feeling up Betty. The girl next to him was probably sitting there so he couldn’t get out. She was obnoxiously picking her nails.

Betty, tired of his behaviour, grabbed his hand which was rubbing her thigh, and dug her nails into it. He yelped and pulled back, jumping out of the booth, “What the fuck, Betty?”

She shrugged, finishing off the last few fries effortlessly.

“I thought you said  _yeah_?! You know, earlier?”

“I said  _maybe_. It’s on my terms, Arch, you know that. It’s always on my terms.”

He huffed, “Okay. Can you call me tonight then? Is that okay?”

Jughead was bemused by this guy’s desperateness.  _Surely there were other girls he could sleep with? Was Betty really that unique?_

~~_Probably._ ~~

“I’ll see.”

“Okay, so do you want to come back over to our booth? There’s no reason to slum it  _this_  low, babe.”

“No thanks.”

He looked even more shocked, “What? There’s space. There’s plenty of space. There’s always a space for you.”

 _On your lap?_  Jughead grimaced at the thought.

“Yeah, there’s space here too. Look, I sit where I want to sit, it’s no big deal.”

It was though. It was definitely a big deal to Archie, all the jocks and the cheerleaders. It was a big deal to Jughead too.

She  _chose_  to sit with him, instead of her usual peers.

She  _rejected_  Archie publicly just because she wanted to sit here, in this booth, with Jughead.

Yet her relaxed demeanour gave the impression that this was simple and meaningless. But Jughead had a feeling that wasn’t the case.

Archie huffed before retreating back to his earlier seat where he glared at Jughead, and the cheerleader left too.

“Anyway,” Betty continued their conversation like they were not interrupted.

But Jughead couldn’t just ignore all that, “Wait.  _What?_  Why did you say no to him?”

She looked up at him, “Because I didn’t want to sit there. It’s as easy as that. It’s really not complicated, Jones.”

Her saying his name made his chest feel warm.

_Jones._

“Okay. Sure. But you said something about ‘your terms’?”

She chuckled, “It’s not exactly a mystery that I sleep around, is it?”

He didn’t know what his facial expression was but the way she reacted to it, made him aware of it.

“Look, don’t judge me, okay. You don’t know me, remember. I know it’s not ethical or shit, but I do what I got to do to get around this place. Yes, I do  _who_  I have to do, too. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a decent person. Well, maybe it does. I don’t know. I just…” she sighed before shaking her head.

“What?” He urged her on.

“No, nothing.”

He gave her the benefit of the doubt, “I strangely understand that. Fair enough.” Although he did hope she wouldn’t sleep around. He didn’t know why but it bothered him. A lot.


	6. Chapter 6

Giving Betty the benefit of the doubt was one of the best decisions Jughead had ever made. Giving her a clean slate, free of his prejudices, to write herself upon it for him to read, was the greatest gift of all.

After Pop’s, Jughead and Betty walked to the cinema, where they watched half a movie, and got bored halfway through. They slipped into another movie, and managed to not get caught. Jughead would never have even bothered to do something of the sorts if it hadn’t been for Betty. They walked to the park, where they climbed up a tree and sat for a while, before Jughead fell out. Betty’s squeal as she gracefully climbed down was embarked upon Jughead’s memory as one of the most adorable sounds of all time.

They roamed the streets of Riverdale at night, stopping in at a Jazz club, where Betty showed off her piano skills and Jughead tried to sing. They ended up being kicked out of there too.

They walked into a salsa dance competition and Betty followed Jughead’s lead. He smiled down at her, as she tried so adorably hard to concentrate.

They explored through the fields of flowers on the outskirts of the town, inspiring Jughead to capture her beauty in the document of a photograph. They took many more photographs of both of them, together, lying in the field of flowers. They talked the night away, learning new things about each other and the world around them. Jughead taught her about the constellations and she looked at him with awe as he described them in detail. She wanted to memorise the way his muscles in his face worked; the way his eyes lit up; the way the corners of his mouth pulled upwards; the way his eyebrows furrowed when he forgot a name; and the look in his eyes when he looked at her, looking at him not the sky, and the smile slowly faded on his face as he came to realisation.

_He wanted to teach her about the stars, but the only star she wanted to know about was him._

His breathing rate increased and he boldly moved in towards her. It was a good sign when she didn’t pull away or turn her cheek to the side. And then he crashed his lips on hers, taking in her sweet taste as he cupped her face in his hands. She slinked a hand into his hair, ruffling the locks like she had been wanting to do for a while. They pulled away, catching their breath, before looking at one another. Neither one of them said anything, just smiled. Betty lay back down and he too. She placed her small hand in his and he squeezed hers.

Again, she continued the conversation like normal, “So what’s that one?”

And he went along with it, enjoying the warm tingles he felt in his heart and head.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Betty didn’t ask for this. She wanted it, yes, but not yet. It was too soon. She was only 16. She wanted a love that lasted. When was the last time someone said they found the love of their life at 16? She didn’t want the typical high school breakup that everyone who went through it seemed to just forget about it two weeks later.

No, she wanted _love_. And she had found it.

Just too soon.

She had no idea what to do, now. Jughead had dropped her home, and he had leaned in to kiss her goodnight, when she hugged him. _She freaking hugged him. That’s like the biggest friend zone of all time._

But what’s worse is that she _wanted_ to kiss him.

_Who even was she? Since when did Betty Cooper hold hands; lay in a field of flowers; think about a boys’ eyes?_

She didn’t. That’s the point. Betty Cooper didn’t do this. She didn’t do ‘love’.

_Bit eager are we? You know, to assume that this is love?_

No. Not really. She knew it, he knew it, they both knew it, the moment they kissed for the very first time. It was like a kiss she had never gotten before, and she had kissed _a lot_.

She wanted to see him again, definitely, but she was also terrified. Close-to-shitting, drop-dead, fucking scared.

Of course she was though. Anyone would be.

She had spent the weekend in hibernation, not wanting to see anyone really. She turned her phone off, hiding from the outside world. She knew Jughead had tried to get in contact with her, but she really couldn’t face him right now. She had to figure out what the fuck was going on with her.

So that’s why she dragged Fangs into the Blue and Gold, first thing on Monday morning.

“Woah, Cooper! What’s going on?” Fangs chuckled whisky trying not to spill his coffee over as Betty shoved him into the room.

“I’ve got a problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Jughead and I…”

“Oh. My. God. You didn’t. Wait…what? He didn’t.”

She narrowed her eyes, “What? No, we didn’t sleep together if that’s what you’re thinking.”

He shrugged, “What else?”

She rolled her eyes, “Well, on Friday, we went and did a bunch of things-no not sex things-and then he, well, _kissed me_.” She said the last two words like they were a curse, emphasising the absurdity to it.

He bit back a smile, “Oh my God, really?! I’m so down for this. Team Bughead all the way.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “What? No. Wait what the fuck?”

All amusement was wiped from his face, “Wait. No. Betty. No, no, no, no, no.”

She swallowed.

“Do you…regret it?”

“What? Why would you…What makes you…” she trailed off on an awkward laugh, clearly very uncomfortable with talking about anything remotely emotional to her.

“Betty…”

“No.”

He squealed, “Then this is great! Isn’t it?”

“No,” she sighed, sitting down. “I’m 16. I have a plan. And that’s not to do with Riverdale. I don’t want to be here. I want to get out, sort my life out, and then find my soulmate. I can’t bother trying to find love whilst I’m in high school.”

He rolled his eyes and sat down opposite her, “Betty, this is okay. This is good. Not everything always goes to plan, and that’s okay. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, I could get my heart broken. But what’s even worse, and more likely, is that I could break his.”

Fangs ‘awh-ed’ whilst placing a hand to his chest, earning a punch in the arm from Betty. “Look, you clearly care about him. I say, give it a chance. Let yourself experience this. If it doesn’t work, God forbid, then it will be a learning experience. Besides, imagine if it _does_ work out.”

Quite truthfully, that terrified Betty more than anything else.

***

Jughead was in a foul mood. His prick of a dad had thrown up over his laptop this morning and his motorbike had a flat, so hearing Betty say “What? No…What the fuck?” to Fangs’ squeal of encouragement to ‘team Bughead’ whilst he stood outside the Blue and Gold office with a coffee and a bouquet of flowers for the girl, didn’t exactly help his mood.

He had thrown away both the coffee and them flowers in the closest bin, before anyone could catch sight of him holding the pink roses.

Hands shoved in pockets, mumbling curses under his breath, he walked to class.

Betty Cooper was playing with him. And he didn’t want in in this game.

***

Betty needed to find Jughead. She hadn’t had any classes with him by lunch, but decided she ought to explain her absent behaviour to him as soon as possible; before he got the wrong idea.

But when she walked into the cafeteria with the jock called Jacob, by her side, she couldn’t spot Jughead. She saw the Serpents on a nearby table and was about to make her way to them when Jacob tugged at her sleeve.

She turned to him, slightly surprised.

“Uh, so, I was wondering,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

She gave him a ‘go-on’ look.

“Do you want…do you want to maybe…Do you need a ride back from practice today?”

She thought for a minute, “Uh, yeah if you can? That would be great. Wait, you’ll drop me _home_ right?”

He swallowed and nodded, too nervous to ask more than that. _This was okay though. This was good. This was a start: first a ride home, next will be a meal at Pop’s. Build this up slowly, Jake, it’s possible._

She flashed him one of her typical, bright Betty Cooper smiles before walking away from him.

“See you later then!” He called out.

She whipped her head around for a second to acknowledge him before turning back to the table she walking towards.

She started greeting the Serpents when she noticed the one she had been looking for, grabbing his tray and doing a 180 in the opposite direction. He was leaving the cafeteria.

She placed her own tray down, and quickly followed him.

“Where are you going?” She yelled after him as she exited the cafeteria and towards the bleachers.

He didn’t stop walking.

“Come on, Jughead. Please.”

“You can’t just avoid me.”

He stopped in his tracks and swiftly turned to see her, rubbing her palms on her cheerleading skirt when she caught up to him.

“ _Me_? Avoid _you_?”

“Okay, granted I’m being hypocritical, but let me explain-“

“Explain what, Betty? That this is what you do? Manipulate people into making them feel special, rather than like the piece of shit they are? Why? So that they’ll come in handy later, when you need them? Sleep around for the same reason? I bet you probably fucked that prick Jacob on Friday, too, didn’t you?”

She took a step back, absolutely shocked. She spoke in barely a whisper, “That’s what you think of me?”

_That’s what everyone thinks of you._

He ran a hand through his hair, “Quite frankly, Betty, I don’t know. But I don’t exactly want to find out.”

_That wasn’t true._

But it stung like a bitch.

She let out a little dry laugh, looking at the empty pitch and nodding. _How naïve she was._

“Betty…”he sighed.

“Nope. No. Got it.”

Betty promised herself right then and there that she wouldn’t pursue a love life in high school, like she had originally planned. She didn’t want this, this right now. Because whilst love can be the best concept in the whole damn world, it can also be quite the bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, so I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been doing a tonne of prompts on Tumblr though, as a way to get my writing mojo back. If you want to check out some of these pieces here's the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alittlebugsheadx I hope you enjoy!


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